The Fat Doctor comes to Cozzy's in Newport News to film his cable TV special

The Fat Doctor returns to his favorite comedy club to film a special for cable TV

The Fat Doctor will perform at Cozzy's Comedy Club in Newport News… (Mike Holtzclaw / Dailyi…)

May 09, 2014|By Mike Holtzclaw, mholtzclaw@dailypress.com

The Fat Doctor has always loved Cozzy's Comedy Club in Newport News, and the feeling is mutual.

The 55-year-old comedian, born Darcel Blagmon, has been performing at the club since it opened in the early 1990s. He has almost certainly sold more tickets at Cozzy's than any other performer; club owner Lorrain Cosgrave says she can't remember having an unsold ticket to one of his shows. He has regular fans there who know his material and call out for favorite routines.

So for many years, The Fat Doctor has promised that if he ever had the opportunity to do a special for cable TV, he would bypass the larger venues and film it at Cozzy's, which seats about 160. This weekend he'll be making good on that promise, doing three shows — at 9 p.m. Friday, and at 8 and 10:30 p.m. Saturday — to be recorded for a comedy special expected to air on Showtime later this year.

"They wanted a big place, with a big crowd, so I would look like a big star," he said. "But this is where I need to do my show. The total outpouring of love and energy I get from that room is going to spill out in everyone's home like nothing else."

He said he plans to do a combination of newer material and old favorites, some of which he plans to retire after this weekend. And he is already planning ahead for what he will do after the cable special is a success. He has two hours of material he can do right now, he says, and a full hour of material to debut when the time is right.

Even in casual conversation, The Fat Doctor elicits laughter. He grew up in the Washington, D.C., area and remains a fan of that city's sports teams — but he admits he "left baseball when the old Washington Senators left in 1971." He drifts off into fond memories of watching that sad sack team as a child.

"The ballpark sat 45,000, but the crowds were so small," he said. "They had 45,000 seats but only one hot dog vendor. And he didn't walk around — he would sit in the shade, and you had to go to him."

He also stays busy as a teacher, giving weekly seminars for aspiring comics and working one-on-one with some more established talent. Martin Lawrence has called The Fat Doctor "my partner in crime," and Cocoa Brown calls him "my comedy godfather."

Recently, while talking with a younger comedian who was having personal problems, The Fat Doctor assured her that he was there to cheer her up. An angel of joy, he said. Later, he decided that "Fat Doctor: Demented Angel of Joy" would be a great name for his cable TV special.

"That is me," he says. "I am here to bring joy to the masses. I feel like the Blues Brothers – on a mission from God to bring joy to the masses."

He's at least partially serious when he talks about divine intervention as it relates to his life. On the night when he performed his first comedy gig, the guy who covered his shift at a fast food restaurant was shot to death in a robbery.

In 1998, he was told he needed a heart transplant and had at best a 50-50 shot to live two more years. He never got the transplant, and he's still alive. In March 2011, he was in a coma for a week after simultaneously having a stroke and a heart attack.

"It's a gift from God — there's no other reason I'm alive," The Fat Doctor says. "And if he's saved a foul-mouthed heathen like me, you know he's a good God.

"I have this vision of me one day going up to Heaven and walking along with Saint Peter, and God comes right up and welcomes me. And then he says, 'But you better watch your mouth up here.' And then he gives me a high-five and walks on."